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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Reconsidering the Seven Deadly Sins and the Seven Very Awesome Virtues

One politician promises a return of manufacturing jobs and the primacy of the family -according to his definition of what "family" is. Another promises change we can believe in - but can't deliver. Another practically promises a repeal on child labor laws and guarantees that he can teach black families the virtue of hard work (apparently undaunted by the fact that the hard work of Black families built the wealth of this nation). Another promises to put his years of expertise at dodging taxes and profiting by firing people and raiding companies into good use as president. Another promises a Love Revolution that is awfully short on love but awfully risky for at-risk families (and the middle class).

These are our options, we're told. One of these men will lead us to The Promised Land.

I'm becoming more an more convinced that we do need a revolution, but that it cannot be centered around one person. It should never be centered on one person. We need a revolution of values, as Dr. King said. We need to see in each other infinite worth and value. We need to tuly assess what good we have to share and what assets we have to benefit from. A true revolution will start not by force or coercion or violence, but by the rising up of entire communities that are willing to unplug themselves from the Contemporary Empire System of Exploitation and see themselves as strong cooperatives.

This revolution cannot be forced. It cannot be charged. It must be commonly understood. It must be learned through re-education. Not forceful education. Not the same manipulative education that we have been subjected to under Madison Avenue, our political parties, the news cooperatives, Hollywood, Viacom, Universal, Old White Men. The type of education that forces us to be compliant and do our business in buying and participating in the CESE.

But an education that teaches us the connections and value of our selves, our neighbors, our work, our time, our intelligence and skills, our families, our energy, our earth, our resources, and the value and intricate worth of every other human and non human on the planet.

One way to look at these values is to reconsider the 7.

If you're like me, you know the Seven Deadly Sins from reading Shazam comic books. Or maybe you've seen the movie Se7en. They're not necessarily biblical, though they are part of the tradition of the Catholic Church, popularized through Dante's Divine Comedies.